Oh Yeah, There's No Manual
by Night Chimeras Cry
Summary: When Rena heard shouting at her neighbors' house and went to investigate, she had no idea what she was getting into. Based on LolliDictator's Manuals.
1. Shouting in the Night

It took forever for me to finish this. I get so stressed about my stories… I have to double-check EVERYTHING and make sure nothing is out of place. But enough about my paranoia, on with the story! Oh, and thanks to ladyofthelibrary410 for looking over and proofreading my story. Grazie!

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. Hetalia belongs to Himaruya-san.**_

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2:00 am. I should probably have been sleeping, but the neighbors were keeping me up again. I turned over, pulling the covers to my chin and wedging my head beneath the pillow. Why do they stay together if all they do is scream at each other all night?

"Rena?" said a voice just loud enough to be heard over the noise. "I can't sleep."

I sat up just as the pitter-patter of footsteps reached the side of my bed. Large green eyes stared back at me in the darkness.

"Jeanne, sweetie, you'll never sleep if you don't go back to bed," I said, patting her head.

"But I'm scared of the noise," she protested, hugging her blanket close to her body. "Can I sleep with you?"

I waved her over, moving to one side to give her room. She's only six after all, and ever since the accident… well, let's not get into that right now.

"Thank you, **sorella**," Jeanne said, curling up next to me.

"G'night."

Sweet silence filled the room, and for a moment I almost believed the couple next door had stopped arguing for the night when…

BANG!

Jeanne screamed at the noise and clung to my side as I shot into a sitting position. I gently pried her off and got out of bed, slipping on my sneakers. That was the last straw, dammit!

"Jeanne, I'm gonna go and talk with the neighbors," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Stay here and don't leave this room."

"I don't want you to go!" she whimpered, clutching the covers like a lifeline.

"I'll be back in a little while, okay? Don't be scared."

She had tears forming in the corners of her eyes, but nodded. I mussed her hair, then quickly trotted downstairs and out the front door.

I didn't want to scare Jeanne, but that noise sounded a lot like a gunshot. Maybe it was stupid to head toward the sound of gunfire, but there was something in me that couldn't just ignore the commotion and run away… even if these idiots had caused me to lose more sleep than I'm willing to admit.

When I got to the front door, I found it locked. Of course. The house was eerily silent—nothing like the yelling of just a few minutes ago—and that scared me a bit. Gently putting my ear to the door, I caught bits and pieces of words before the yelling started again, even louder now that I was outside the house.

"**Per favore, non!**" squeaked a small voice, in what I realized was Italian.

"I said speak properly, dammit!" slurred another, much deeper voice, followed by a resounding smack. "You wan' what happ'ned ta her!"

"No! No, please!" pleaded the first voice in English.

"This's all yer fault! If I wasn't for you, we'd still be gettin' along nice an' happy."

Another smack, this one even louder.

"**Aiutami, ti prego! AIUTAMI!**"

"Wha' did I jus' say?"

I gave the door a swift kick, to no avail. Instead of beating myself to death on the door, I tried the nearby window. And by "tried", I mean I kicked it in and carefully unlocked it before hopping inside.

The shouts sounded like they were coming from the living room, so I made my way there as quickly as possible. (Hey, if the slurring, drunken bastard hadn't heard the window break, I figured stealth is unnecessary.)

Screeching to a halt at the doorway, I felt faint at the sight of the room. A redheaded woman (one of the neighbors who was always yelling, I noted numbly) was face down in a slowly expanding pool of blood, a bullet hole in her back. Crouched near her was a sobbing child I didn't recognize, who was cowering from an obviously intoxicated man (the other neighbor, I noticed) with a pistol in one hand.

My blood ran cold at the sight of the gun, and my Italian genes urged me to run as fast as I could and never look back. However, I found I couldn't just leave the kid to be killed by some hammered buffoon.

I grabbed the first thing I could find (a lamp) and chucked it at the bastard's head. Now, I'm no softball pitcher, but I hit my mark and sent the inebriated man to the floor. Without thinking, I ran over and kicked the gun halfway across the room, then kicked the man in the ribs to make sure he was down.

I turned to the kid, who was still shivering next to the woman's body, and walked over to… her? Well, the kid was wearing a dress.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked, crouching in front of the trembling child. "He's not gonna hurt you anymore."

The child whimpered and finally looked in my direction with terrified golden eyes. I gave her a reassuring pat on the head, but it only caused her to flinch and pull away. The poor thing was traumatized, not that I could blame the kid.

"I'm gonna call the cops and an ambulance, alright? I'm not sure what we can do for her," I motioned to the unmoving woman, "but we should get you checked out."

There was a slight nod, and I gave a sweet smile before starting my search for the phone. I dialed 911, explained the situation as best I could to the operator, and went back to comfort the kid.

I managed to get the trembling tot away from the woman's body and into the other room, where I gave the babysitter a call and had her come over to watch Jeanne. I feared the cops would want to question me, and it would probably take half the night (well, whatever was left of the night).

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The police took both me and the child to the station soon after arriving. The questioning was fortunately much shorter than I'd expected, though also I stayed while they questioned the child. They didn't get much out of her, but at least they got enough from me to lock the crazed drunk up for a while.

As the police escorted the kid back out, one of them walked over to me and cleared his throat. I quirked an eyebrow and looked up.

"More questions?" I asked.

"No, ma'am," he said politely. "There is, however, a slight problem."

"Problem?" I echoed, glancing at the child being led over to me.

"The child found at the scene wasn't Mr. and Mrs. Shaw's child."

"So, she's adopted? Illegitimate? Kidnapped?" Okay, maybe that last one was just my wild imagination.

"Er, well… He is not a normal child."

"He? But the dress—Wow, that's…" I shook my head, organizing my thoughts. "Why was he wearing a dress?"

"That's partly because of what he is, ma'am. He's what's called a Unit."

I gave the policeman a look indicating my confusion.

"Well, it's like… He's kind of—What I mean is…" He ran a hand through his hair, trying to find the right words. "They're like real-life anime characters, cloned in a lab. They sell 'em on some websites. People can buy them as companions or something like that."

"…Are you kidding me? That sounds pretty ludicrous."

"I know it sounds insane and you think I'm on something, but it's true. I know a girl who has one she got as a gift," he said, looking sheepish. "Plus, I recognize the little guy here from the show. Ever hear of Axis Powers Hetalia?"

My eyes widened and I looked at the child the cops had dropped off, who was standing a short distance away. How had I missed it before! Chestnut hair with that one wild curl on the one side, maid dress… Holy shit, I was looking at Chibitalia.

"Yeah, I've heard of it," I squeaked out, turning back to the policeman.

"Anyway, he belonged to Mrs. Shaw, who apparently ordered him by accident. Her husband was angry about it, but she refused to send him back."

"And that caused the late-night arguments."

"Partially. It likely sparked Mrs. Shaw's murder when Mr. Shaw came home drunk," he said, matter-of-factly. "But since both of them are indisposed at the moment, he has no owner."

"I see," I said tentatively, feeling uncomfortable with how much this guy was making these Unit things sound like slaves. I mean, really! Owner, buying them, sending them back!

"As neither Mr. nor Mrs. Shaw have any close relatives, we really have no place for him to go." Ah, now he was getting to the point.

"You want me to take him in?" I asked, though it was less a question and more a statement.

"That's correct, ma'am," he said, nodding.

"And you know that I'm single and already caring for one child?"

"Yes."

I sighed, scratching my head. It's not that I didn't want to bring Chibitalia home, but I wasn't sure I could handle another mouth to feed. I almost considered telling them I couldn't, but looking at Feliciano… I knew I couldn't leave him here.

"I'll take him with me," I said, my logical half already starting to beat my emotional half with a mallet.

"Great!" the policeman chirped, giving Chibitalia a gentle push toward me. "I'll go get his things and the two of you can go home."

"Yeah, awesome," I said tiredly. I extended a hand to Feliciano, who took it timidly. "C'mon, kiddo. Let's head home."

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Translations:

Italian:

Sorella—sister

Per favore, non!—Please, no!

Aiutami, ti prego! AIUTAMI!—Help me, please! HELP ME!


	2. Bringing Feli Home

A/N: Chapter 2! I can't believe I'm actually publishing something after being on this site for, what… three years? Thanks again to ladyofthelibrary410 for proofreading!

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. If I did, horrible things would happen.**_

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**Chapter 2: Bringing Feli Home**

It was nine in the morning when we finally reached the house with Feliciano. We'd stopped by Wal-Mart and got him something other than the dress, so now he was wearing a red t-shirt and black pants. Well, at least he looked more like a little boy now.

I tiredly opened the door with an "I'm home!" and nearly tripped on the blonde blur that tackled my leg. It was Jeanne. She started punching my leg and crying, making Chibitalia squeak in surprise.

"You lied! You lied, you lied, you lied!" Jeanne screamed. "You said you'd be back soon, and you lied! **Menteuse, menteuse, menteuse!**"

Jeanne was quickly scooped up into the babysitter's arms as I tried to comfort Feliciano (who'd been terrified when Jeanne started screaming).

"Thanks, Raku," I said over Jeanne's screaming, petting Feli's head lightly.

Raku was our other neighbor, the one that didn't keep me up all night screaming. She was from Japan, and moved here at age 15 for a better education. She was my best friend in the whole world (though that might be because I don't have any other friends).

"Don't worry about it," she chirped, brushing a strand of hair out of her face with a free hand. "Jeanne, sweetie, I'm sure your sister had a good reason for—Is that Chibitalia!"

Raku quickly set Jeanne down and started cooing over Feliciano, who shied away from the woman.

"He's so CUTE! So **kawaii**!" she squealed, rambling a bit in Japanese before switching back to English. "Where did you get him?"

I gave her a rough outline of last night's events, choosing to skip a few of the bloodier parts for Jeanne and Feli's sakes. Raku nodded slowly, taking it all in.

"Anime characters from the internet, huh? Cool," she said, grinning. "I wonder if I could get one…?"

"Before you start fantasizing about having hot anime guys in your house, let's get Feli situated first," I said, not wanting her to start rambling in front of the children. "Feli, this is my neighbor Raku. She's a bit strange, but harmless, I swear."

Raku scooped the chibi into her arms, giggling like a schoolgirl.

"You are so cute! I could just hug you all day!"

I had to carefully pry Feliciano from Raku's arms, as her excitable behavior was making him tremble in fright. Raku was a nice girl, but she wasn't always sensitive to others' needs.

"Easy, Raku. You're scaring him," I said as Feli put his arms around my neck.

"I'm sorry!" she said, obviously distressed. "I didn't make him cry, did I? Oh god, I'll just die if I made Chibitalia cry!"

"He's fine. He's just been through a lot."

"Well, yeah," Raku said, fidgeting. "I mean, he'd not really acting like I'd expect him to. I bet that asshole of a drunkard beat him or something."

"Language," I warned, setting the tiny Italian down. "But you may be right."

The sad part, she probably was right. I didn't doubt this little guy had been beaten, and last night had probably not been the first time. He was an abused child, Unit or not, and it broke my heart. I shook my head, trying to clear it, and went over to Jeanne.

"Jeanne," I said, addressing the now sulking girl. "I'm sorry I came home so late. There was a lot going on next door and the cops wanted to ask me some questions."

She didn't say anything, but I knew from the look on her face she was dying to know about the events at the police station. She wanted to be a cop, after all.

"How about you introduce yourself to Feliciano, and I'll tell you all about the police station at bedtime?"

"Okay," she said, trying to mask her excitement as she trotted over to Feli. "I'm Jeanne Acacia Wolf, but you can call me Jeanne. I like video games and puppies and cop shows and root beer!" she said energetically.

He trembled slightly at the attention, but responded with a quiet, "I'm Feliciano." He then thought a bit and continued. "I like pasta and drawing and taking siestas."

"Can I just call you Feli? Feliciano is a long name!" she said, getting a nod in return. "Okay, nice to meet you, Feli!"

He was still scared of her a bit, but at least he was opening up. Maybe, with a little work, we could get him back to his goofy, lovable self. Scratch that; we would get him back to normal.

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We showed Feli around the house, including his new room. I didn't have much in the way of clothes or toys for him, but I assured him we would go shopping later. After that, I put Jeanne and Feli down for a nap and Raku started to head home.

I say started because she stopped at the door and told me she was starting a different shift in a few weeks and she wouldn't be able to watch the kids. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Raku had a plan.

"You could totally order another Unit to watch them. Get China or something. He loves kids!"

And with that she left, closing the door quietly behind her. It wasn't a bad idea, really. Plus, there was a possibility that I could make some extra money if I had the Unit get a job too… Could they get jobs?

So I sat myself down at the computer desk and searched for these Hetalia Units. They weren't all that hard to find, but it quickly became obvious that these things were a bit out of my price range… Okay, a lot out of my price range. So sue me, I'm a single woman keeping two small children.

Now what? If I couldn't order a Unit, who would watch the kids while I worked? I mean, I do work from home… but that doesn't mean I need distractions (AKA small children without supervision equals bad).

"**Scheiße**!" I swore, continuing to look about the web site. Maybe there was a cheaper Unit somewhere? Surely, all of them couldn't be so pricey.

…Yes they can, apparently. I said a few more choice words in German before clicking my way to the FAQs page. Let's see, "wrong Unit", "wrong manual", "so expensive"—There we go! It read:

"Q: All the Units are so expensive! I don't have that kind of money!

A: Lucky you, for a limited time only, you can sign up to beta test our newest Units! It costs no money, and we'll even compensate you for your efforts. However, we cannot assure you will get the Unit you want this way."

After that was a link, which I tentatively clicked. There was a simple form to fill out, followed by the message "Thank you! Your beta Unit will be arriving within the week." Huh. Was that really it? I guess I'll find out in a week.

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Translations:

French:

Menteuse—liar

Japanese:

Kawaii—cute

German:

Scheiße!—Shit!


	3. Sunday, Lost and Found

A/N: I'm sorry it took long! I've in the middle of midterms and I'm busy with some RP stuff on deviantart. Also, I'm not gonna lie… Renata's gonna have a rough time of this chapter.

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or Wal-Mart. I only own my OCs and a lovely laptop which I use to write these things. Enjoy~**_

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**Chapter 3: Sunday, Lost and Found**

"Okay, let's run through this one more time," I said, turning off the car. "We're going into Wal-Mart to get stuff for Feliciano. We'll get some clothes, toys, and food. Jeanne?"

"Um, I'm s'posed to help Feli find toys," the blonde said, shuffling her feet impatiently. "But only when we get to the toys. And I get a toy if I be good and don't beg for stuff?"

"Good, good. Feli?"

"Ah, um…" he stammered, trying to recall what Renata had gone over ten minutes previous. "I help with picking stuff out."

"Alright, let's go then," I chirped, hopping out of the car.

The three of us walked into Wal-Mart without trouble, though the greeter near the carts gave me a baffled look. I ignored it and headed straight for the children's clothing aisle. I figured I should probably let Feliciano pick out some of his own shirts and pants. Certainly it couldn't hurt.

"Feli, what kind of shirt would you like?" I asked, causing him to jump a bit.

"Oh, I—well, um…" he stammered for a few more seconds before I picked a few shirts off the rack and offered them to him.

"Would you like the red one with the puppy on it, the blue one with the dinosaur, or the green one with the cat?"

He tapped the red shirt, so I tossed it in the buggy and continued looking at the shirts. He would need some long-sleeve shirts too, since fall was almost here… not to mention pants and shorts. I turned to Feli and Jeanne.

"How about you two run off to the toys and I'll finish with the clothes? That sound good?"

Jeanne and Feliciano nodded (Jeanne a lot more enthusiastically) and the two trotted off with the excitable blonde dragging the brunette by the wrist. I sighed and set about getting half a closet's worth of clothes for the Italian chibi.

The buggy soon grew heavy and hard to push, so I figured that was plenty and struggled to the toy aisle. I found Feli and Jeanne around the stuffed animals, and Feli was holding a large and extremely fluffy stuffed rabbit.

"Would you like to carry it or put it in the buggy?" I asked, motioning at the bunny.

Feliciano squeezed the plushie tightly and I took that to mean he would hold it. Jeanne was meanwhile bouncing and pointing at a policeman puppy toy.

"Can I get this one? It's so cool!" she chirped, her bouncing slowing a bit.

"Sure, why not?" I grabbed the toy from the top shelf and handed it to her.

She squealed happily and started chattering about how she and Feli saw a bunch of toys that he might want. She lead our group around the toy aisles and Feli picked out a few more toys, mostly stuffed animals but there were a few toy cars and trucks.

"Would you like any particular kind of food?" I asked, strenuously turning the buggy toward the food area. "I'm gonna pick up some basic stuff: milk, eggs, bread. Any requests?"

"Ooh! Root beer!" Jeanne said, holding up the police dog. "Do we have root beer?"

"We're running low, so I'll get some," I replied. "What about you, Feli?"

"Can we have pasta?" he said quietly, squeezing the bunny ever tighter.

"Of course," I said smiling tiredly. "We'll even have it for dinner if you want."

He looked surprised for a moment, then grinned into his rabbit with a giggle. I resisted the urge to squeal at the cuteness and pushed the overly heavy cart toward the aisle with the pasta and pasta sauces. Unfortunately, the stuff we usually bought had been moved to the top shelf.

"Aw, come on! Seriously?" I complained, scratching the back of my head. "I'm gonna go get someone to get this down. Stay with the buggy, okay?"

Both children nodded, so I set about finding an employee. I couldn't find a single person, meaning I went all the way to the customer service desk for help.

"Excuse me?" I said, ringing the bell. The lady behind the desk turned around, looking bored.

"Can I help you?" she said, obviously irritated.

"I need someone to help me get something off the top shelf."

"Did you try looking for an employee in the area?" Now she was treating me like I was stupid. This would not end well.

"Yes, of course," I replied, putting on a sickly sweet smile. "I couldn't find anyone. Is there someone who can help me?"

"Which aisle?" she said, rolling her eyes a bit.

"The pasta aisle. Could you ask them to hurry?"

She grabbed the phone and mumbled something into it, getting a similarly incomprehensible reply. She then shot me a look that asked why I wasn't gone yet, so I glared back before turning to leave. The employee got to the aisle just as I did, so I had the rather tall boy get my pasta supplies and intended to leave as soon as possible.

"Okay, you two. Let's head home, alright?" I said, turning the buggy toward the checkout.

"Um, we can't," mumbled Jeanne.

"What?" I turned to look at her, only to find a certain Italian chibi was missing. "Jeanne, where's Feli?"

"I dunno!" Jeanne said, starting to cry. "I looked away and he was gone! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Don't cry sweetie. It's not your fault." I said, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "He couldn't have gotten too far. Help me look."

She mumbled an affirmative and the two of us made our way around the aisles. Feliciano was nowhere to be found, so I trudged back over to the customer service desk. I really didn't want go back there and deal with that lady, but if anything happened to Feli… I shook my head. Thinking about that wouldn't help.

"Excuse me," I said, ringing the bell a few more times than necessary just to annoy the lady. "I have another problem."

"Can I help you?" she asked, her face screaming 'Oh, God! Not you again!'

"I somehow lost my… er, well he's the neighbor's kid, but I'm taking care of him. He's about this tall," I motioned with my right hand, "brown hair, golden eyes."

"A lost child?" she said, her expression softening slightly. "Sure, just a moment."

She mumbled into the phone again, getting a rather frantic response. An announcement came over the intercom, asking for anyone who might have seen the child to come to the help desk. Not two minutes later a sunglasses-wearing man walked up with a crying Feliciano in his arm and a large dog at his side.

"Is this your child?" he asked, a slight southern drawl in his voice.

"Yeah, where did you find him?" I asked, taking Feli and patting his head comfortingly.

"I think he come after me lookin' to pet Bruce here," he said, motioning to the dog. "I didn't notice him for the longest time… not until Bruce stopped walkin' and went about sniffin' the boy."

"Thank you for finding him. I-I hope he didn't bother you," I said, realizing the man was probably blind.

"Not at all. I was worried he might be lost, so I asked him where his folks were. He didn't know an' started cryin'. So when I heard the announcement, I picked him up and brought him here."

"I'm sorry," the tiny Italian murmured into my shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, sweetie," I cooed. "Just don't do it again, okay? You scared me."

Feliciano nodded and waved at the blind man. "Ciao, mister. Ciao, doggie."

The man tipped his hat, leaving with the dog to go about his business. I sighed, setting Feli on the ground so I could push the buggy through the checkout. I had my things rung up and paid for everything with a grimace. I was not going to have a lot of money for the rest of the week, that was for sure.

I pushed the cart the final stretch to the car, unloaded everything and got the kids situated in their seats.

"I hate today," I muttered, putting the car into reverse.

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Translations:

Italian:

Ciao—goodbye


	4. Monday, Italian Rage

A/N: SALUT, GUYS! Sorry about the wait. I got major writer's block like you wouldn't believe. Also, I'm allowed to make fun of college-age people because I am one. Thanks for all the reviews and support~

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, Cici's Pizza, or Pizza Hut, but I really wish I did!**_

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**Chapter 4: Monday, Italian Rage**

Okay, yesterday was a bit of a mess. But today's been great! I have the day off, the kids have been quiet, and now we're going to have a nice peaceful dinner at Cici's pizza… Or so I was saying about an hour ago.

The line for Cici's was stupidly long, but I forced myself to be patient and wait. I couldn't think of anywhere else that was all-you-can-eat, and I promised Feli we'd get pizza and pasta tonight. The kids weren't quite as antsy, but that might be because I gave them my DS to play with.

"Get him!" Jeanne cheered over Feliciano's shoulder. "Hit him with Shell Blade! Beat him up, Revolver!"

For the life of me, I can't remember what possessed me to name that Oshawott Revolver. I don't even play Metal Gear!

"He's dying!" Feli whined. "He's not gonna last, Jeanne!"

"Use Cut! Use Cut!" she chanted, bouncing.

Two more groups of people and we were at the front. I had to keep reminding myself of that or I would go crazy. It didn't help that the group in front of us was full of loud college-age boys. I could feel a headache starting to poke at my brain again as the line moved forward a bit.

"This is goddamn stupid!" I heard one them complain.

I was half tempted to kick him for swearing in front of the kids, but reined in my temper. Beating a guy half to death in front of the kids wasn't exactly model behavior, either.

"I didn't even want to come here, and the line is so fucking long!" the same guy moaned. "Italian food is shit. I hate this!"

I didn't realize how quiet the kids were being until I heard the swearing college idiot yelp in pain. Feli had heard the comment on Italian food it seemed, and had kicked the moron squarely in the shin.

"What the fuck! You got a problem, little brat?" he snarled.

"Italian food is not shit!" Feli yelled back.

Jeanne covered her mouth, even though the Italian was only repeating what the man had said earlier. I was about to pull Feli back and apologize when the jerk pulled back his leg and kicked Feli. In the stomach. Screw everything, the bastard dies now.

"MOTHERFUCKER! YOU DON'T KICK MY KID!"

I leaped onto the taller man, screaming obscenities and soundly kicking his ass. His friends didn't step in to help, as they were too busy laughing their heads off at the fact their friend was being beaten by a girl. After several minutes of beatdown, security arrived and pulled us apart… or rather, they pulled me off him.

I tried to explain that he started it, but they weren't hearing it. We were kicked out of the Cici's along with the jerk, his friends laughing all the way to their table.

"AAAAAARRRGHH!" I screeched my frustration at the sky.

The college punk decided to beat a hasty retreat at my scream, literally sprinting to his car. I pinched the bridge of my nose, looking guiltily at the kids.

"I'm sorry," Feli said, close to tears. I melted then and there.

"No, honey. I'm the one that beat him up, and it was his fault to begin with," I said, patting his head. "Don't blame yourself."

He brightened up a bit, but was still clearly upset. I felt bad since I had promised him pizza and pasta, so we dropped by Pizza Hut and went home to eat.

And of course my luck isn't good enough to have that be an end to the day, as we ended up going to the hospital. Not because Feli was injured by the child-kicking asshole, but because my pinkie finger was really sore and turning blue after we finished eating. I apparently broke it smashing the jerk's face in. Of course.

"I hate today," I groaned as the doctor put a splint on my finger.

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Did I go through an entire chapter without using foreign words? …Wow.

Read and review?


	5. Tuesday, No Lives Left

A/N: Hi~ Sorry for the infrequent updates, but school/work and DeviantArt keep me really busy... and writing isn't really my major thing...

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. If I did, certain pairings would actually get hooked up.**_

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**Chapter 5: Tuesday, No Lives Left**

With a broken finger and a spring in my step, I led the kids to the local arcade. It seemed like an innocent way to pass the time, and I figured there wasn't much that could be worse than the past two days.

Feli had never been to an arcade of course, so his eyes were wide upon seeing the multitude of flashing lights an d laughing children. I brought a good number of tokens and divided them evenly between the kids (leaving a few for myself of course), and told them to go and play whatever they wanted. Jeanne bolted for some shooting game, while Feli looked around. He eventually decided on some old-school thing, so I headed for something I could actually play with my busted hand: Dance Dance Revolution.

As a bonus, it was close enough to Feli and Jeanne, meaning I could keep an eye on them and NOT have a repeat of the Wal-Mart incident. Now, I'm not in the best shape. I never said I was. So after a few rounds of DDR, my lungs were burning and I needed to sit down. I opted for watching the kids instead.

Jeanne was at a different game now, though it was still one of those shooter things with the gun-shaped controllers. The little blonde I call my sister was screaming things like "Die monsters!" and "Reload, reload, reload!", which was pretty normal for her once she got into a game like that.

It took me a moment to realize she was actually playing with another person, a teenage boy. I chuckled. Judging by the look on his face and the yelling Jeanne was doing, he wasn't nearly as practiced at the game as she was.

I left Jeanne to the shooting of pixels and looked around for Feli. He was still playing the same game from before... some really old spaceship fighter game I forgot the name of. His face was screwed up in concentration, and he let out a squeak every time he nearly lost a life. It was so freaking cute. I seriously wanted to just run over and hug him. I wouldn't though, because then he'd stop playing and cute would end.

I ended up watching him for the longest time, and he'd made it through a great number of levels (and quarters) when it happened. The joystick suddenly lurched to the side, something the tiny Italian hadn't expected if the yelp he let out was any indication. Feli didn't move for a moment, then looked around frantically. When he spotted me, he ran over with tears in his eyes and something clutched tightly in his hands.

"What's the matter?" I asked, a feeling of dread starting to form in my stomach.

"I-I..." Feli opened his fists, revealing what appeared to be the joystick from the game, broken off. "I b-broke it..."

Oh shit, I'm dead. I didn't have the money to shell out for this! Especially not with the trip to the hospital yesterday! I forced myself to calm down for Feli's sake, and took the broken item gently from him. I needed to hide it, try to stick it back on, SOMETHING!

"Is that from the Galaga game?" a voice from behind me said.

I turned slowly. It was the guy from behind the counter! Nowhere to hide now...

"Y-Yeah," I said slowly. "It just broke off and—"

"I figured," the man interrupted, raising a hand to cut me off.

"I-I'll pay the damages," I stammered. "I don't think you can just glue that back on..."

The man laughed. He actually laughed. I went straight from panicked to annoyed.

"What!" I snapped. "What's so funny?"

"I-I'm sorry," he said, composing himself. "But that machine has been broken for a while."

I stared at him. "Eh?"

"The game was already broken," he repeated. "One of my coworkers must've glued the joystick back on again." He took the broken joystick and examined it. "Yep, there's glue."

"S-So I don't have to pay," I realized aloud. You could've knocked me over with a feather right then if you wanted. "Thank God!"

The guy started laughing again, so I shot him a look that made him quickly shut up and walk away. Feli looked up at me worriedly.

"So, I'm not in trouble?" he asked.

"No one's in trouble," I said tiredly, giving him a pat on the head. "Not today."

"Soreeeeeella!" called a familiar voice.

Jeanne came trotting over with an armful of tickets. She was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Where did all these come from?" I asked, knowing the shooting games Jeanne loved so much didn't actually give out tickets.

"I won them from this guy," she announced proudly. "He bet me all his tickets that I couldn't beat him in Dino Hunter 2! I whupped him good."

She then grinned wider and trotted proudly over to the counter and placed the (at least) four hundred tickets up there.

"Want anything, Feli?" Jeanne chirped. "We can split it!"

Feli didn't say a word, but bolted over to the counter alongside her. I scratched my head and smiled.

"Today could've been worse," I mused.

#############

Another chapter without foreign words! Oh god, I'm slipping! I need to fix this next chapter...

#############

Some info on the OCs:

Renata Wolf

Gender: female

Race: Caucasian

Age: 23

Height: 5' 3"

Hair color: auburn (leaning toward red, pulled into a short ponytail)

Eye color: blue

Skin tone: fair

Personality: reserved, mildly cynical, and a bit jittery; considered paranoid; has a soft spot for cute things

Other notes: currently works as a website programmer; speaks English and Italian fluently (mother was an Italian immigrant); knows plenty of German and Spanish and tends to use them when stressed, mostly in the form of swearing... (her grandparents on her father's side were German and Spanish, so she learned from them as well as classes in high school)

Jeanne Acacia Wolf

Gender: female

Race: Caucasian

Age: 6

Height: 3' 11"

Hair color: dirty blonde (short and kind of messy)

Eye color: green

Skin tone: average

Personality: sweet-natured and sensitive, with a habit of getting angry and yelling to mask when she gets upset or sad

Other notes: Renata's younger half-sister, with a different father; moved in with Renata a year ago when her parents died in a car crash; had a different last name, but changed it when Renata became her legal guardian; speaks English, but since she grew up in France she speaks French much better


End file.
